B F 
1261 

Wz 




PSYCHIC SCIENCE 
SERIES 

BY 
EDWARD B. WARMAN, A. H. 



!fi 

yto. 6 

SPIRITISM 







Glass _ 
Book_ 
Copyrights 



JljL 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 



PSYCHIC SCIENCE SEKIES 
tto. VI 

SPIRITISM 



PSYCHIC SCIENCE SERIES 


No. 


I. 


Psychology. 


No. 


II. 


Personal Magnetism. 


No. 


III. 


Telepathy—Mental 
Telegraphy— Thought 
Transference — Mind 
Reading — Muscle 
Reading. 


No. 


IV. 


Hypnotism. 


No. 


V. 


Suggestion. 


No. 


VI. 


Spiritism. 


No. 


VII. 


Clairvoyance and 
Clairaudience — Pre- 
monitions and Impres- 
sions. 


No. 


VIII. 


Hindu Philosophy in 
a Nutshell. 


By EDWARD B. WARMAN, A.M. 




Each 
A. C 


18mo, 50 cents, net. 


). McClurg & Co. 






PUBLISHERS 



PSYCHIC SCIENCE SERIES 



SPIRITISM 



BY 

EDWARD B. WARMAN, A. M. 

Author of "The Philosophy of Expression," 

"The Voice— How to Train It," "Get 

Well; Keep Well," etc., etc. 




CHICAGO 

A. C. McCLUEG & CO. 

1910 



"&t 



^ 



^ 



Copyright 
A. C. McCLURG & CO. 

1910 

Published September 24,1910 
Entered at Stationers' Hall, London, England 



STfje ILaftesttie tyxtz* 

R. R. DONNELLEY & SONS COMPANY 
CHICAGO 



©GLA2734 



PREFACE TO THE SERIES 

rpHERE are two reasons why I 
JL have written these books: first, 
in response to thousands of my pupils 
throughout this country and Canada 
who desire the instruction in a 
more tangible form than simply 
through the medium of the voice; 
second, that the general public may 
have the result of thorough, honest, 
and unbiassed investigation extend- 
ing throughout a period of thirty-five 
years. 

Having kept abreast of the times, 
I am fully aware of the conclusions 
other writers have reached, especially 
on spiritism; and am further con- 
scious of the fact that, with few ex- 
ceptions, I do not, in the main, agree 
with these. However, my decisions 
have in no way been influenced by any 
writer, not even by my friend, the 
late Dr. Thomson Jay Hudson, whom 
I first met in 1899. When our paths 
converged, we found we had been 



PREFACE TO THE SERIES 

travelling on parallel lines for twen- 
ty-five years. Comparing notes, I 
was pleased to learn that we had ar- 
rived, practically, at the same con- 
clusions ; therefore, there may appear 
to be much of Hudson in my writings, 
and it could not well be otherwise, 
especially on spiritism. I felt highly 
honored to have so great an authority 
bear so corroborative testimony. 

By consulting the topics treated it 
will be observed that I have covered 
a much wider field than those who 
have preceded me, having touched 
upon every phase of Psychic Phe- 
nomena. This I have done as briefly 
and concisely as possible and practi- 
cable, and while my decisions are 
positive, they are neither arrogant 
nor dogmatic. 

E. B. W. 
Los Angeles, Cal. 
August 1, 1910. 



VI 



THE following letter, which speaks 
for itself, is from the late Dr. 
Thomson Jay Hudson, the author of 
"The Law of Psychic Phenomena/' 
etc. : 

No. 10 Ninth St., S. E., 
Washington, D. C, May 2, 1900. 

1 consider Mr. Edward B. Warm an the peer of any 
man in his line; in fact, I know of no one who covers 
so wide a field. His experiences in Mental Telegraphy 
are equal to any I have ever known; he is the most 
practical psychologist it has ever been my pleasure to 
meet; his explanation of Hypnotism removes all fear; 
his sifting of the grains of truth from the Christian 
Science doctrine leaves nothing to be desired; his 
exegesis of Spiritism is scientific and logical, acknowl- 
edging, as every thorough investigator must, the 
alleged phenomena, but denying, as every logician 
must, the alleged cause. His Suggestions to Mothers 
are simply invaluable. 

I heartilv commend him for his sound doctrines. 



flhWW '£*$&%, 




" Reade not to contradict ; nor to believe and 
take for granted ; nor to find talk and discourse; 
but to weigh and consider!' — Loed Bacon. 



INTRODUCTORY. 

I AM fully aware that in the fol- 
lowing pages I have propounded 
views which differ from those that are 
usually accepted, yet I have searched 
as thoroughly and as anxiously for 
considerations opposed to my conclu- 
sions as for arguments in their favor ; 
considerations based upon scientific 
investigations, not the mere opinions 
of those who accept because they de- 
sire so to believe. 

While I fully respect the decisions 
of those thorough investigators— Sir 
Oliver Lodge, Sir Wm, Crookes, Wm. 
T. Stead, Camillc Flammarion, the 
late Caesar Lombroso, and others who 
favor the spiritistic theory as the 
cause, I cannot bring myself to accept 
their judgment inasmuch as the evi- 
dence is not sufficiently conclusive of 
the correctness of their theories. 

E. B. W. 

ix 



PSYCHIC SCIENCE SERIES 



SPIEITISM 

My Conclusions — The Conclusions Con- 
sidered — Verbal Messages — The Origin 
of the Messages — Mediums — The Dif- 
ference BETWEEN A MEDIUM AND A 

Psychic — The Physical Phenomena — 
Kaps, Table Tilting, etc. — Independent 
Slate Writing — Kinetic Energy in Levi- 
tation — Another Form of Kinetic En- 
ergy — Materialization — Collective 
Hallucination — Spirit Photography — 
Ghosts — Mrs. Leonora E. Piper — 
Eusapia Palladino — Summary. 

WE are here face to face with 
one of the greatest truths of 
the universe, or else with the most la- 
mentable delusion. Which? One's 
mere opinion amounts to naught un- 
less that opinion is based upon a most 
careful, painstaking, and unbiassed 
investigation. Even then, the result of 
that opinion is wholly, as it necessar- 
11 



SPIRITISM 

ily must be, from the investigator's 
point of view. It is the weighing of 
the evidence that constitutes the 
proof. 

After a thorough and unbiassed in- 
vestigation extending over more than 
a quarter of a century ; an investiga- 
tion including every phase of spirit- 
ism extant; an investigation that 
brought me in close personal and 
friendly relationship with the leading 
mediums of this country, I have been 
led step by step to the following con- 
clusions : 

MY CONCLUSIONS 

1. I believe in the alleged phenom- 
ena, but not in the alleged cause. 

2. Every true manifestation of 
spiritism may be accounted for upon 
purely scientific grounds. 

3. The phenomena are not due to 
or ever dependent upon, discarnate 
spirit. 

4. There is no valid scientific evi- 
dence whatever that spirits of the 
dead have ever communicated in any 
manner with the living. 

12 



SPIKITISM 

5. Not all spirit mediums are 
frauds, but all spirit mediums that 
are not frauds are self-deceived when 
attributing either their power or their 
information to spirits of the dead. 

6. Clairvoyance and clairaudience 
are legitimately within the sphere of 
psychic phenomena, but are wholly 
independent of disembodied spirits. 

7. Premonitions and impressions 
are God-given gifts to all His chil- 
dren, albeit He is no respecter of per- 
sons ; for all who will may hear the 
1 ' still, small voice. ' ' 

In 1874, during my investigation of 
spiritism, which was then designated 
spiritualism, I had the pleasure of 
meeting the man (a spiritist) who had 
the distinction of having given the 
first public lecture ever heard on this 
subject. This occurred directly after 
the Fox sisters had startled the world 
with the announcement of " spirit 
rappings." The gentleman to whom 
I refer was a lecturer, not a medium ; 
a man far above the average medium 
in intelligence. As a rule— in fact I 
know of no exception— the lecturer on 
13 



SPIRITISM 

spiritism has too much intelligence to 
be a medium ; the medium, not enough 
to be a lecturer. 

To further my investigations I took 
room and board in the same house 
with this gentleman, the additional 
household consisting of a man and his 
wife (both spiritists) and a well- 
known medium. Night after night we 
held seances, and these_ being of a 
private character, were the more in- 
teresting, were conducted with less 
likelihood of fraud, and furnished a 
more satisfactory opportunity for 
careful investigation. As I now look 
back over these intervening years I 
can see clearly, whereas at that time I 
saw " as through a glass, darkly. " 

It may not be out of place to state 
that at that time and for many years 
thereafter I was, in consequence of 
many wonderful and unaccountable 
personal experiences, a believer in 
spiritism ; but (and I want that word 
"but" fully emphasized) a believer 
with a mental reservation, a shadow 
of a doubt, as to the cause of the phe- 
nomena. I have always been thank- 
ful for that shadow; for, in later 
14 



SPIRITISM 

years, it proved to be "the pillar of 
cloud by day" and "the pillar of fire 
by night" which led me safely out of 
the wilderness of error and supersti- 
tion. 

Ever since childhood I have been 
an impressionist and my impressions 
having been verified were the cause of 
my early and continuous investiga- 
tions. It was years before I learned 
to distinguish the spiritist from the 
impressionist, but having distin- 
guished, I have learned also to dis- 
criminate. 

In the Winter of 1899, in Cleveland, 
Ohio, I had the pleasure and the 
honor of meeting the late Dr. Thomson 
Jay Hudson. In the many interviews 
that followed the first meeting, we ex- 
changed notes on our observations 
and experiences along the lines of 
psychic phenomena. We found, to 
our surprise, that we had been travel- 
ling on parallel roads for twenty-five 
years. Our conclusions, in the main, 
were identical, especially regarding 
spiritism and hypnotism. We dif- 
fered in a few minor points, each 
looking from his own viewpoint; 

15 



SPIRITISM 

therefore we agreed to disagree. I 
shall now take up, one by one, the de- 
fence of each plank in the platform 
as previously stated. 

THE CONCLUSIONS CONSIDERED 

1. It may be thought strange that 
any one could or would accept the 
phenomena of spiritism after so many 
years of faithful study ; or that, hav- 
ing accepted the phenomena, he could 
reject the generally accepted cause. 
Many persons have said to me that 
they could find out all there is in spir- 
itism in about twenty-five minutes 
instead of as many years. Possibly 
so; they could find out all that their 
prejudice would allow them to inves- 
tigate. 

The fact that every phase of spirit- 
ism can be faked is no assurance that 
the phenomena are unreal. There are 
honest and conscientious mediums (in 
the minority, I will admit), but they 
are not conscious of the origin of their 
power. They attribute it, in all sin- 
cerity, to departed spirits. Why? Be- 
cause they have been so informed, and 
16 



SPIRITISM 

the information has become a verity 
in consequence of autosuggestion. 

As was stated in another volume of 
this series, the subjective mind is 
amenable to suggestion. It will reason 
deductively from any premise given 
and then give back to the objective 
mind the result of that reasoning. 
If the premise is wrong the conclusion 
will be wrong. You can repeat an 
untruth so often that eventually you, 
yourself, will believe it is true. 

If you want proof as to the amena- 
bility of the subjective mind of the 
medium to a suggestion from the sit- 
ter, and further proof of the power of 
autosuggestion of the medium on her 
own subjective mind, you have but to 
ask for a communication from one 
who has never existed; suggesting, 
thereby, that such a person (say a 
brother) has passed into spirit life. 
It is an indisputable fact that you can 
obtain a communication from an ima- 
ginary dead person as readily as from 
one who actually lived, provided, of 
course, that the medium is not aware 
of the facts. I believe, as I shall here- 
inafter endeavor to prove, that the 
17 



SPIRITISM 

power is not from an extraneous 
source, but is inherent. 

2. Science is a knowledge of facts 
and forces. A scientific investigation 
reveals the fact that man possesses 
inherently the power to produce or re- 
produce every phenomenon of spirit- 
ism; therefore it is unnecessary and 
unscientific to seek elsewhere for the 
source of power. 

3. Dr. Hudson says: 

"Back of the manifestation there is, unques- 
tionably, an intelligence — presumably that of 
the medium. This statement should be ac- 
cepted until the contrary can be proved. I do 
not mean the objective intelligence of the me- 
dium, but that knowledge which has passed, 
telepathically, or otherwise, into the subjective 
mind." 

4. Communications, all communi- 
cations given by mediums, are sup- 
posed to be from the spirits of the 
dead. Proof, however, is wanting. 

"No medium can communicate matter which 
is at once capable of verification, if the matter 
is unknown to any living mind. Therefore, as 
telepathy cannot be eliminated, and as it is the 
factor in every so-called message, it is not 
necessary to ascribe to spirits of the dead 
[disembodied] the knowledge which is in the 

18 



SPIRITISM 

subjective mind of the living — the embodied 
spirit." 

5. While many spirit mediums are 
honest, it must be admitted that, as a 
class, they are not noted for their 
brilliant intellectual attainments ; 
therefore they are the easier self- 
deceived. Now and then an edu- 
cated man or woman accepts spiritism 
in t oto— the more 's the pity— but 
few of them ever become mediums. 

The majority of mediums are not 
only ignorant but neurotic; and the 
more so, the better they are fitted for 
mediumship— the more abnormal. To 
become a professional medium it is 
necessary to become objectively pas- 
sive, and that to such an extent that 
the passive condition becomes the 
rule; the positive, the exception; in 
other words, to " let go" of the objec- 
tive mind. This is not a difficult thing 
for mediums to do, as the average me- 
dium has so little to "let go" of. The 
less the purely intellectual or analyti- 
cal mind is developed the more power- 
ful are the workings of the subjective 
attributes. 

Prof. Charles Richet, the eminent 
19 



SPIRITISM 

physiologist of the Sarbonne, than 
whom there is no more thorough 
and unbiassed investigator, sums up 
his conclusions as follows, viz. ; 

"The normal personality of the medium dis- 
appears, and another completely different and 
gifted lucidity enters upon the scene — a mere 
variation of the medium's own intelligence. 
And surely it is as reasonable to accept in- 
dwelling force in explanation of the genuine 
phenomena as to assume, in their production, 
the agency of demons, angels, or excarnate 
human spirits. The human personality must 
be as powerful and as variously gifted as any 
outside intelligences under God. It is unphilo- 
sophical to seek for novel doctrines and ex- 
planations to account for the results of easily 
apprehended causes. 

"Spiritism is a foe to all intellectual, moral, 
and material progress. It thrives because of 
its pretence to satisfy the most intense longing 
of human nature, the craving for a re-establish- 
ment of objective relations with the departed. 
But we have no evidence that the spirits of the 
dead are concerned in its phenomena. The 
idea of intercourse with discarnate friends 
through the machinery of the seance is repug- 
nant to reason. Aside from the fact that if the 
communications be accepted as messages from 
the souls of the righteous dead (such belief can- 
not be reconciled with an exalted conception of 
the powers of disembodied spirits), we are con- 
fronted with the equally significant fact that 
20 



SPIRITISM 

the intellectual status of all circles is foisonless 
and low. No important truths are communi- 
cated, no sky-inspiring thoughts. 

"The revelations made by our alleged de- 
ceased relatives are distasteful to us and, what 
is most conclusive, utterly at variance with 
their gifts and characters. Not a page of me- 
diumistic literature has the smallest value. 
More unmitigated rubbish was never issued 
from the printery." 

VERBAL MESSAGES 

When you go to a medium and you 
are told why you came, you may think 
it strange, especially if it is your first 
experience. If you have written some 
questions and they are answered cor- 
rectly without having been seen by 
the medium or having been written 
on a padded block, you may think it 
still more strange, unless, perhaps, 
you are wise enough to attribute it to 
thought-transference. But when the 
medium tells you of something which 
you "have never told a living soul," 
then you are astonished ; when she (I 
say "she" because "she" is in the 
majority) tells you something you 
were not thinking of at the time or 
something you had forgotten, you are 
21 



SPIRITISM 

amazed at her wonderful power ; but 
when she tells you of something you 
never knew but the truth of which 
you afterward prove, you are then 
dumfounded and quite ready to es- 
pouse the cause of spiritism. 

But wait. Has she told you of that 
which you never knew? Impossible. 
You may have no conscious recollec- 
tion of it, but rest assured that no 
medium, even the most expert in the 
world, can give you any information 
that is not already in your subjective 
mind. 

Many things find their way into 
the subjective mind without objective 
consciousness. Add to this fact that 
the subjective mind is the storehouse 
of memory, and that its memory is ab- 
solutely perfect ; that everything you 
have ever heard or read or seen or 
thought or said is registered therein* ; 
that the medium is in telepathic 
touch with your subjective mind, 
and can delve into that storehouse 
and bring forth those long-buried 
thoughts ; that she gets them directly 

* "Psychology," No. I, Psychic Science Se- 
ries. 

22 



SPIRITISM 

from your own embodied spirit and 
not from the disembodied spirit of 
one who previously lived. Suppose 
that, in addition to a message pur- 
porting to be from the dead, the med- 
ium gives you an accurate description 
of the departed spirit. " Surely/ ' you 
exclaim, "that cannot be telepathy or 
thought-transference or mind read- 
ing.' ' 

Let us see. A mother, dressed in 
deep mourning, calls to consult a med- 
ium. She has been informed that 
she can communicate with her child 
that has but recently " passed over." 
In that state of passive expectancy 
she enters the presence of the medium, 
who immediately informs her that 
she has lost a loved one (very evi- 
dent) . The medium says, hesitating- 
ly, feeling her way, "Ah, I see, it is 
a little child— let us see— ah, yes,— a 
little girl." (From the mother's 
mind.) "She gives me the name of 
the child " (another hesitancy) , "Ah, 
yes,— Mary." (Also from the moth- 
er's mind.) Then she describes the 
child, even to the clothing, if the 
mother has in mind some favorite cos- 
23 



SPIRITISM 

tume ; if not, then she is clothed in a 
white robe (always white). Then 
comes the climax when the medium 
says, " Your little Mary is standing 
by you, puts her arms around your 
neck, and says, ' Mamma, I'm so 
glad to be with you; I 'm very 
happy.' " This and many more like 
sayings every medium has on hand to 
fit the situation. It is a part of her 
stock in trade. 

What is the result of this inter- 
view? In all probability another 
convert to spiritism. 

Did the medium really see the spirit 
of the child? She may have been 
honest in thinking she did. She may 
have read the description from the 
mother's mind, or she may have seen, 
subjectively, the mental image held by 
the mother. Whatever she saw or 
thought she saw or said she saw was 
not the spirit of the child. 

Why look for information to the 
spirit of one who has passed over? 
"Why should a dead man's spirit in 
abnormal union with a living man's 
body possess more knowledge than a 
living man's spirit in normal union 
24 



SPIRITISM 

with his own body V 9 Why should we 
expect that spirit to possess any 
more knowledge than our own spirit 
possesses % 

We should not, for it does not and 
cannot. I used to believe such was 
the case, and was ever ready with the 
argument that the disembodied spirit 
is no longer subject to natural law. 
That was merely an assertion without 
a single prop to sustain it. Every- 
thing is subject to natural law. There 
is no other. The phenomena may be 
facts, but never supernatural while 
convincingly supernormal. 

"It is possible that if spirits could 
communicate as familiarly with the 
living as we commune with one an- 
other," says Dr. Hudson, "they 
would have no language which could 
bring to our comprehension their true 
condition. How can the caterpillar, 
crawling upon the ground, hold intel- 
ligent communion with the airy but- 
terfly, or the butterfly reveal to the 
caterpillar the mysteries of her 
winged life?" 

While soul intercourse unquestion- 
ably takes place between the living— 
25 



SPIRITISM 

the embodied spirits— there is every 
reason, analogically, to infer that 
communication — soul intercourse— 
may and does take place between 
those who have passed over the Great 
Divide— the disembodied spirits. But 
that does not signify that communi- 
cation takes place between embodied 
and disembodied spirits. There is no 
valid scientific evidence that there 
has ever been intercommunication 
between incarnate and discarnate 
spirits. 

"Between us and you there is a great gulf 
fixed ; so that they which would pass from hence 
to you cannot ; neither can they pass to us, that 
would come from thence." Luke xvi :24. 

Dr. John Duncan Quackenbos, who 
has delved deeply into this subject, 
says: 

"Of this telepathic communication with the 
dead there exists, at the present stage of inves- 
tigation, no convincing evidence" 

He further states that he 

"has never heard a spiritistic medium say any- 
thing that was not readily comprehensible, on 
the theory of thought-transference ; has never 
seen a medium do anything that could not be 
rationally explained as due to the action of 
26 



SPIRITISM 

supersensible psychic force which he believes to 
inhere in every human personality, but which 
only a few human beings have power conscious- 
ly or unconsciously to exploit in their earth- 
lives, or make visible or tangible in the so-called 
phenomena of the seance (rappings, levitation, 
movement of heavy objects without physical 
contact, etc.)." 

"It has been shown that brutes are capable 
of telepathic communication with one another. 
It cannot, then, seem marvellous that a pro- 
fessional trance-medium in perfect training 
should be able to project her transliminal self 
indiscriminately, or with method in her ecstasy, 
force her way subjectively into the penetralia 
of selected human minds, and so possess herself 
of information calculated to confuse, deceive, 
or otherwise impress her investigators. For, 
has such a medium ever revealed anything that 
did not exist either in her own consciousness, 
or in the consciousness of some living human 
being present at the seance? 

"But neither telepathy nor the agency of the 
dead can account for much that is referred to 
the ' control' of the medium. Self-delusion, in- 
duced bv autosuggestion, explains not a little 
of it," 

THE OKIGIN" OF THE MESSAGES 

Supposing a medium gives infor- 
mation concerning some transaction 
during the earthly career of one 
now dead, said transaction not being 
27 



SPIRITISM 

objectively known by the one con- 
sulting the medium, what do we 
infer? Does the so-called message 
come from a departed spirit? An 
honest medium will say so, and an 
honest medium will think so, in conse- 
quence of the autosuggestion that all 
information is from the departed. But 
what are the facts % The information 
came from the one now dead while 
he was living. All this is explainable 
by telepathy.* 

Inasmuch as telepathy is a faculty 
belonging exclusively to the subjec- 
tive mind this information, pre- 
vious to the death of the departed, 
was unconsciously communicated to 
the subjective mind of the sitter (the 
one consulting the medium) , but was 
never elevated above the threshold of 
his normal consciousness, and in all 
probability would never have become 
known to him had he not come in 
touch with a medium. How did the 
medium get it % Telepathically from 
the sitter; not from the dead, but 
from the living. 

* "Telepathy," Vol. Ill, Psychic Science 
Series. 

28 



SPIRITISM 

In the same way the sitter is told of 
the death of a friend, possibly a trag- 
ic death, of which he had no objective 
knowledge. The medium reveals to 
him the minutest detail, claiming, of 
course, that the messages are from the 
dead friend, w T hen, in reality, he (the 
medium) is merely receiving, tele- 
pathically, the information lying la- 
tent in the subjective mind of the 
sitter. How did the sitter get it? 
Telepathically from his dying friend, 
at the very moment of the tragedy. 

Of the eight hundred and thirty 
cases cited in ' ' Phantasms of the Liv- 
ing/' a large proportion are of such 
a nature as to furnish unmistakable 
evidence that dying persons make an 
effort to inform their relatives and 
friends of their condition, especially 
if there is any object to be gained by 
so doing. These messages lie latent 
in the subjective consciousness of 
those persons until they are revealed 
by a medium. 

This is what is known as " telepathy 
by three." It has been ably handled 
bv Dr. Hudson in his thorough trea- 
tise, " The Evolution of the Soul." 
29 



S P I R ITiSM 

The question hinges on this : Can in- 
formation telepathically received be 
telepathically transmitted to a third 
person ? 

Says Dr. Hudson: 

"If it can, spiritism, as a scientific prop- 
osition, lias not a leg to stand upon; for 
not a case lias yet been recorded that can- 
not be telepathically explained if that simple 
proposition is true. If it is not true, 
there must be a valid answer to the proposi- 
tion ; but that answer has never been attempted 
otherwise than by the bare assertion, without 
argument, that 'it is carrying telepathy too 
far. ? On the other hand, if the proposition is 
true, spiritism, considered as a scientific prop- 
osition, is disposed of." 



MEDIUMS 

What constitutes a medium? One 
who can reach the content of the sub- 
jective mind of another. 

Is this mediumistic power a gift? 
Yes, and it is susceptible of great cul- 
tivation. 

Is it a desirable gift to cultivate ? 
Not unless one wishes to make medi- 
umship a profession. 

Is it a desirable profession? No; 
30 



SPIRITISM 

because the power is purchased at a 
very great cost, the weakening of the 
objective faculties; the habitual in- 
dulgence invariably results in some 
form of nervous derangement and 
disease. Dr. Hudson says: 

"No one can become a good medium until a 
nervous derangement has been induced. The 
best mediums are those whose nervous systems 
are completely shattered; and the degree of 
mediumistic power attainable by any one is in 
exact proportion to the intensity of the nervous 
derangement." 

The question arises, Is the power 
worth the price? When the idea is 
once implanted in the mind of the me- 
dium that the communications are 
from the spirits of the dead, that 
dominant idea soon takes such posses- 
sion of the ones so deluded that they 
lose all interest in the everyday af- 
fairs of life, read no books except on 
spiritism, read no papers, do not keep 
abreast of the times, and when ques- 
tioned as to the reason, invariably 
say, "Oh, they tell me all I ought to 
know." 

"Who are they?" 

"Why, my guides, of course." 
31 



SPIRITISM 

Men and women who expend their 
vitality in the cultivation of the sub- 
jective faculties for the development 
of mediumistic power are compara- 
tively worthless in the practical, ev- 
eryday affairs of life. 



THE DIFFEKENCE BETWEEN A 
PSYCHIC AND A MEDIUM 

There is a decided difference be- 
tween a psychic and a medium: the 
former is influenced and controlled 
on the psychical plane; the latter is 
influenced and controlled on the 
physical plane. The psychic does 
not surrender his or her own physical 
consciousness but merely listens to 
or receives information from the 
so-called " other side " (in reality 
the subjective mind), while the 
reason and will are subject to his or 
her own control. A medium surren- 
ders his or her physical organism to 
the control of another, supposedly, 
who forcibly takes possession. 

There is, as will be seen, a marked 
difference. You know whether you 
are physically conscious, and capable 
32 



SPIRITISM 

of reason, analysis, and discrimina- 
tion (psychic), or whether you don't 
know what you are doing when you 
receive messages from the invisible 
(medium) . 

Let me caution all who are interest- 
ed in this abnormal development to 
first count the costs. It is much eas- 
ier to awaken the subjective power 
than it is to control it. All is well so 
long as the objective has control, but 
not so when the subjective gains 
supremacy beyond the power of the 
objective to say, " Thus far and no 
farther." 

Not long ago a well-known educa- 
tor in California extended his inves- 
tigations to the extent that he heard, 
or thought he heard, voices. Believ- 
ing them to be voices of the departed 
he lost his mental balance, reason ab- 
dicated her throne, and he ended 
life's fitful dream by his own hand. 

Possibly the strongest argument in 
the minds of spiritists is the query so 
often propounded by them: "If two 
embodied spirits can communicate 
with one another by means of tele- 
pathy, why cannot a disembodied 
33 



SPIRITISM 

spirit communicate with an embodied 
spirit in the same way?" 

This is usually supposed to be a set- 
tler. It is, from the viewpoint of the 
spiritist, because his mind is settled 
when he asks it. . No amount of argu- 
ment can ever convert a deep-dyed-in- 
the-wool spiritist. This important 
question is best answered in Dr. Hud- 
son 's own words: "As for myself, I 
do not know why they cannot— I do 
not even know that they cannot— so 
communicate. The question is, Do 
spirits of the dead communicate with 
the living through mediums?" 

Throughout the whole field of in- 
vestigation, including every phase of 
spiritism extant, and with unbiassed 
judgment, have I sought and sought 
in vain for the proof that spirits do so 
communicate. I have been personally 
acquainted with the very best and 
most prominent mediums in this coun- 
try, but I have yet to meet one that 
has been able to give me any intelli- 
gent or definite message from the be- 
yond—" the undiscovered country, 
from whose bourn no traveller re- 
turns." 

34 



SPIRITISM 

Said Dr. Hudson: 

"I have every reason to believe that Christ 
had a full, accurate, intuitive knowledge of 
every attribute of the human soul. I further 
believe that in the parable of the rich man and 
Lazarus we have a full, clear, concise, and 
definite expression as to His view of spirit re- 
turn." 

Note the following expressions to 
which Dr. Hudson refers, and see how 
significant and unmistakable are the 
utterances: " Between us and you 
there is a great gulf fixed ; so that they 
which would pass from hence to you 
cannot; neither can they pass to us, 
that would come from thence." Also, 
" Though one rose from the dead," 
etc. 

Mark well that word ' ' though, ' ' and 
see what it implies. What is the con- 
clusion to which we must naturally 
arrive ? I believe it will be the general 
consensus of opinion that if Christ 
considered it possible for spirits of 
the dead to commune with the living, 
He would have taken this occasion to 
impart the information. Not having 
done so, the import of the parable is 
35 



SPIRITISM 

that "it is neither possible nor expe- 
dient, for any purpose whatever, for 
spirits of the dead to communicate 
with the living." 

Thus far I have dealt with verbal 
messages only. What about table tilt- 
ing, raps, levitation of objects, inde- 
pendent slate-writing? Are they 
sleight of hand? Quite often, but not 
always so. It is more difficult to pro- 
duce the genuine than the counterfeit ; 
the one is purely a physical manifes- 
tation ; the other legerdemain. 

THE PHYSICAL PHENOMENA 

All the physical phenomena of spir- 
itism can be accounted for on the 
ground that living man possesses, in- 
herently, the power to produce them. 
The power resides within the medium 
and is in no way connected with or in- 
fluenced by a discarnate spirit. It is 
a power belonging exclusively to the 
subjective mind, and has been well 
named by Professor Cowes, who evi- 
dently coined the word— "telekine- 
sis " from the Greek words tele, far 
off, and kinesis, movement. 
36 



SPIRITISM 

Dr. Hudson says : 

"The only thing that can he said of this 
power with certainty is that it exists; that it 
is not a power of the objective mind; that it 
is a power of the human soul, and that it is 
valuable in this life only as an evidence that 
there is a kinetic force resident in the soul. 
There is no valid evidence whatever that dis- 
embodied spirits either do or can produce the 
phenomena of telekinesis." 



RAPS, TABLE-TILTING, ETC. 

"It is that power [telekinesis] which, in 
spiritistic circles, produces raps upon floor, 
walls, and furniture; levitates the medium, 
tilts tables, and sometimes causes the most 
orderly and dignified parlor furniture to 'play 
fantastic tricks before high heaven.' " 

But of what use is all this? Is it 
all trickery? I am frank to confess 
that it may be legitimately done and 
may serve a purpose, but I fully agree 
with Dr. Hudson and others that the 
power is inherent. I am well aware 
that it is difficult for some persons to 
comprehend that any object can be 
made to move without visible force. 
Yet we have illustrations in nature: 
37 



SPIRITISM 

when the wind slams the door we have 
the movement of an object without 
visible contact; the same in various 
electrical movements. 

It is a noticeable fact that mediums 
are seldom developed in more than 
one method or means of communica- 
tion. Those that give verbal mes- 
sages, whether in the trance or semi- 
trance state, rarely resort to physical 
means of communication. 

Surely a power that can levitate 
ponderable objects can cause the raps 
that are distinctly heard and can 
move the pencil in the independent 
slate-writing. When circled around a 
table it is the custom for one person 
to act as spokesman; the established 
code of signals is agreed upon. The 
questions are asked; and if the an- 
swers come from raps heard upon the 
table or elsewhere, the power that 
produces them is the kinetic force of 
which I have spoken, and the intelli- 
gence, if there is any, comes from the 
same source— the subjective mind 
containing the information. 

If the answers are received by the 



38 



SPIRITISM 

tilting of the table, the force employed 
is not usually the kinetic energy of the 
soul, but an unconscious muscular 
action of the one whose subjective 
mind holds the information, all others 
yielding to the stronger movement. 
No intelligent answer is ever given 
unless the knowledge or information 
is in the subjective mind of some one 
present, although that person may 
have no objective knowledge of the 
same. 



INDEPENDENT SLATE-WRITING 

Independent slate-writing may be 
genuine. It is possible to receive 
messages in that manner and have the 
assurance that every possible chance 
of fraud has been eliminated. But I 
must repeat over and over again that 
these messages are not from the dead. 
You may even receive a message (or 
information), in which the writing is 
a perfect f ac-simile of that of one who 
is dead. But that information and the 
knowledge of the style of writing 
must be in the subjective mind of 



30 



SPIRITISM 

some one present. It is telepathically 
transmitted to the subjective mind of 
the medium, and from him emanates 
this unseen, unfelt, kinetic energy 
that moves the pencil. All this may 
be done without physical contact with 
either the slate or the pencil. 

This I have witnessed when only 
three others were present, one of them 
a medium. The slate was locked in 
the drawer of a large library table, 
and there was not the slightest chance 
of fraud; besides, the three present 
were particular friends, the medium 
a member of the family. A medium 
will inform you that this is all due to 
the departed spirit that sent the mes- 
sage, and he (or she) firmly believes 
that both the transmission of thought 
and the transmission of energy came 
from the same source. They did, but 
not from that to which it is ascribed. 
These are instances wherein I go back 
to one of the strongest planks in my 
platform, namely, I believe in the al- 
leged phenomena, but not in the 
alleged cause. 

This is a case, probably, in which 
the searcher for light and truth finds 
40 



SPIRITISM 

it more difficult to understand the ex- 
planation than the thing explained; 
while the believer in spiritism finds it 
much easier to believe that which he 
ardently desires to be true. 

But you may be curious to know 
how a power resident within you, a 
power of which so little is known, can 
move with such delicacy an object so 
small as the smallest bit of pencil, and 
can also move, with ease, some pon- 
derous object or objects. 

How? I cannot say, nor can any 
one. But I do say that I see no need 
of attributing any power to the dead 
that is inherent in the living. And 
further, I know that the power exists, 
as I have both observed and experi- 
enced it. I will give two cases in my 
own experience in which there could 
have been no possible fraud because 
there was no medium connected 
therewith. I acknowledge that I do 
so with some degree of hesitancy, be- 
cause the two incidents are so 
unusual ; besides, facts stated in cold 
print lack the convincing power that 
accompanies the individual presenta- 
tion. 

41 



SPIRITISM 

KINETIC ENERGY IN LEVITATION 

I had charge of forty French Cana- 
dian expert fishermen, whom I had 
taken to the month of Saginaw River, 
but a short distance from Saginaw 
Bay. Ere the ice moved out I had oc- 
casion, many times, to cross and re- 
cross the river on my trips to and 
from Bay City. On this special oc- 
casion I was impressed that there was 
unusual danger, and my many pre- 
vious experiences had taught me the 
wisdom of heeding the warning and 
making the necessary preparation. 
In consequence of this I procured a 
long stout rope and fastened one end 
of it securely around my body, and 
the other end around the body of one 
of the fishermen who was to accom- 
pany me. 

We walked quite a distance apart, 
enough so as to keep the long rope al- 
most taut. We also walked in a line 
with one another, not one in advance 
of the other. Feeling a security in the 
comparative firmness of the ice, I be- 
came a trifle careless ; instead of look- 
ing straight ahead, I was looking in 
42 



SPIRITISM 

other directions at the snow-covered 
landscape. 

How often in life we feel most se- 
cure when we are nearest danger, and 
in that sense of security fail to hear 
the warning voice! In this case I 
had previously heard, listened, heeded, 
and made necessary preparation. At 
the very moment, however, an un- 
guarded moment, being too objec- 
tively active, I did not get the im- 
pression of immediate danger, but felt 
myself lifted bodily (an indescrib- 
able feeling), and in less time than I 
can w r rite it I was, by this unseen 
power, borne across an iceless area, 
where the water was deepest, a dis- 
tance of many feet in width— so wide, 
I could neither have stepped nor 
jumped it. 

If I was surprised, what about my 
companion? As soon as he felt the 
rope becoming more taut he looked in 
my direction and saw me moving 
through the air without any effort on 
my part. There was no break in the 
ice at his end of the line. He moved 
cautiously toward me. Had he not 
been tied, being very superstitious, he 
43 



SPIRITISM 

would have moved very rapidly in the 
opposite direction. He could not un- 
derstand it; neither could I. Can 
you % At that time, I could arrive at 
but one conclusion,— it was spirits, 
the disembodied spirits of departed 
friends; yet, as the Scotchman says, 
I had my " doots." At this time, I 
can arrive at but one conclusion, also, 
—it was a spirit, my own embodied 
spirit, using the kinetic energy resi- 
dent within myself. Of this, I have 
no " doot." 

Upon this occasion, as upon all oc- 
casions of a similar nature, an ejacu- 
latory prayer of thankfulness escaped 
my lips to the Great Spirit, the 
Source of All Good ; for I was assured 
that whatever the power, or whence- 
soever it came, it was His power. It 
will thus be seen that this kinetic en- 
ergy is the power that controls the 
physical forces of nature, the power 
of moving ponderable objects and the 
power of moving one's own body; 
"the power that enabled Jesus and 
Peter to walk upon the water," says 
Dr. Hudson. 



44 



SPIRITISM 

ANOTHEK FOEM OF KINETIC 
ENEKGY 

During the Civil War, while en- 
camped at Savannah, Georgia, I was 
passing from a cabin to my tent. 
There was no occasion for me to halt, 
at least none that I could see, but all 
at once some one back of me (as I 
supposed) placed a powerful hand on 
each shoulder and thus prevented my 
taking another step. My feet seemed 
riveted to the spot, but I turned my 
head and was greatly surprised to be- 
hold no one behind me. Had I taken 
one more step, the result undoubtedly 
would have proved fatal. Just as I 
was halted, a bullet grazed my chest. 

A negro (a former slave who had 
joined us on the " March to the 
Sea," serving as cook for our mess) 
was standing some distance away 
when he was attracted by the peculiar 
noise of the bullet and the flying of a 
chip in the air. He said: "Who frew 
up dat chip?" I informed him that it 
was a bullet that struck the spot 
where he saw the chip fly up. He dug 
about a foot into the ground and 
45 



*> 



SPIRITISM 

found the bullet, which had been com- 
pletely flattened by its impact with a 
large stone. In the meantime I had 
not moved from my position, so that 
I might gauge the distance and the 
angle. The conclusion was in accord 
with my previous reckoning, namely, 
that one step would have been fatal. 
The negro handed me the bullet, I 
looked at it, and tossed it away (bul- 
lets were so common then) . I thought 
of what might have been, and was 
truly thankful that it was outside of 
me instead of inside. 

Here was another illustration of 
kinetic energy, the inherent power 
that held me as in a vise, a power 
which I did not then understand. 

MATEEIALIZATION 

Such a thing as spirit materializa- 
tion does not in reality exist. It is 
true that shadowy forms issue forth 
from the cabinet, and some of them 
are, indeed, truly and unmistakably 
material. The only mistake made is 
by the medium in allowing those pres- 
ent to discover the material of which 

46 



SPIRITISM 

the spirit is made. The very name is 
a misnomer, a spiritual body is not a 
physical (material) body. Christ 
said, "A spirit hath not flesh and 
bones." 

"But," you may ask, "are there no 
genuine manifestations?" As for my- 
self, during all my years of investiga- 
tion I have never witnessed anything 
genuine in the line of materialization. 
More fraud is perpetrated by materi- 
alizing mediums than by any other. 

Dr. Hudson, although denying that 
there is such a thing in reality, be- 
lieved that " the production of gen- 
uine apparitions, resembling the per- 
sons they profess to represent, is a 
possibility within the range of psy- 
chic power." 

It is not to be denied that a good 
medium can produce any number of 
visions of men, women, and children, 
and all this without fraud. But it 
should be understood that the forms 
that are seen are not materialized 
spirits, but instead, the mental im- 
ages held in the subjective minds of 
those present at the seance, perceived 
telepathically by the medium, and by 
47 



SPIRITISM 

the medium projected in such a way 
as to be perceived and even recognized 
objectively by those present. 

Dr. George F. Tuttle of Waverly, 
Massachusetts, comments as follows: 

" How the materialization of spirit forms are 
received depends on the attitude of the observer. 
If they are seen with the firm belief that they 
are really spiritual manifestations, and under 
an emotional condition which precludes the ex- 
ercise of sound judgment, they appear convin- 
cing. With such a mental attitude the possibil- 
ities for deception are endless. 

"A gauze mask in front of a handkerchief 
made luminous by phosphorus, has been recog- 
nized by many different people as a dear de- 
parted relative. This is, properly speaking, a 
delusional interpretation rather than an illu- 
sion. 

"I am quite certain, however, that the most 
convincing proof of the doctrine of spiritism 
which causes its acceptance by many people of 
education, refinement, and otherwise good judg- 
ment, is the evidence of their own senses — the 
voices and touch of departed friends ; in other 
words, the hallucinations or illusions that come 
to them while in an emotional condition, under 
the influence of suggestion and expectant atten- 
tion, which are afterward perpetuated by habit. 
This seems to be the reason why so many who 
attempt to investigate spiritism become be- 
lievers." 

48 



SPIRITISM 

COLLECTIVE HALLUCINATION 

While it requires a medium of 
much practice and powerful concen- 
tration to produce apparent materi- 
alization, they are not worthy to be 
compared with the feats of the East 
India fakirs who possess the power 
of producing hallucinations in the 
minds of others simply by forming 
pictures in their own minds, which 
they mentally impress upon the minds 
of the spectators. 

It is in this manner that what is 
known as a " collective hallucina- 
tion" is made upon the minds of hun- 
dreds or even thousands at the same 
time, all of whom would be willing to 
swear that they really saw the mango 
tree grow ; saw the girl step into the 
bamboo basket, and then heard her 
shriek as she was pierced through and 
through with the magician's sword; 
saw her blood trickle from the sword 
as it was withdrawn; saw the lid 
raised and the basket empty; saw a 
rope thrown high into the air, and 
then saw a boy climb aloft; saw the 
magician follow; saw the boy come 
49 



SPIRITISM 

down in sections— head, arms, legs, 
and trunk; then saw the magician 
(the fakir) descend ; then saw the dis- 
membered portions of the boy gather 
themselves together, rim toward the 
fakir, and then disappear. 

I say— saw them. Did they? Yes, 
they saw them just as surely as you 
ever saw materialized spirit. There 
can be no doubt about these perform- 
ances being illusions, because an at- 
tempt to photograph them reveals 
nothing on the plate other than the 
magician, the musicians, and the 
place where the hallucinations took 
place ; other than that, nothing, noth- 
ing whatever. These fakirs simply 
have the power to make you see things 
which do not exist. 

Says Frederick J. Haskin : 

"The first principle underlying the whole 
business is that of a strong will, and the first 
necessary condition of producing a magical ef- 
fect is an increase in the power of thought. 
The Hindus, owing to that intense love for soli- 
tary meditation, which has been one of their 
most pronounced characteristics from time im- 
memorial, have acquired mental faculties of 
which we of the Western and younger civiliza- 
tion are totally ignorant. The Hindu has at- 
50 



SPIRITISM 

tained a past master's degree in speculative 
philosophy. He has for years retired for medi- 
tation to the silent places in his land, lived a 
hermit, subdued the body and developed the 
mind, thus winning control over other minds." 



SPIKIT PHOTOGRAPHY 

I have seen some excellent examples 
of so-called spirit photography, but in 
every case I have failed to see photo- 
graphs of spirits. It is true that other 
faces than that of the subject ap- 
peared upon the photographic plate. 
This is another case in which I am 
frank to admit that not all "spirit 
photography" is the work of deceiv- 
ers ; yet this is not an admission that 
spirits are ever photographed. 

It is possible that these impressions 
were on the prepared plate, and it is 
possible they were not. If not, whence 
came they? That is the important 
point to consider in determining the 
truth. Experiments have been made 
which clearly demonstrate the power 
of producing the picture of any one, 
living or dead, by vividly recalling the 
image of the person to be photo- 
graphed, and concentrating the mind 
51 



SPIRITISM 

upon the mental picture. You will ob- 
serve that it is not necessary for one 
to be dead in order to have his "spir- 
it" photographed. 

Usually, however, the sitter may 
hold in his mind, consciously or un- 
consciously, the image of one or more 
friends that have "passed over." The 
medium, telepathically perceiving the 
image, re-creates it with sufficient 
power to produce the impression upon 
the photographic plate. 

No one should deny the possibility 
of photographing thought waves of 
an image held in the mind, after hav- 
ing read or heard of the recent re- 
markable and successful experiment 
made by Dr. M. A. Veeder of Lyons, 
New York. He, with four others 
standing around a table, placed the 
tips of the fingers of their right hands 
under the photographic plate pre- 
pared in the ordinary manner and 
enclosed in the plate-holder. The fin- 
gers of the left hands were placed on 
the top of the plate. 

After concentrating the attention 
for a few seconds on a ball of sur- 
geon's gauze on the floor, the plate 

52 



SPIRITISM 

(not having been exposed during the 
experiment) was duly developed. The 
result? There, at the exact spot 
where the finger tips of the experi- 
menters had centred, was an object 
clearly photographed, of the size, 
shape, and general appearance of the 
ball of gauze. 

Question: Was this the spirit of 
the ball of gauze that was photo- 
graphed? Just as much so as are the 
impressions upon the plate in "spir- 
it" photography the photographs of 
spirits. 

GHOSTS 

It would probably be less objection- 
able to speak of ghosts as "phantasms 
of the dead," or, in some cases, as fan- 
tastics of the dead. I never have seen 
any ghosts, but have slept in haunted 
houses where dishes were rattled and 
doors were slammed in my face; 
where I have heard chandeliers fall 
with a crash and seen doors that could 
not be kept locked or chained. But I 
never was able to catch the ghost, al- 
though I have felt, or thought I felt, 
his (or her) uncanny touch as soon as 
53 



SPIRITISM 

the lights were extinguished. This 
may sound like a ghost story; but 
strange as it may seem, there are 
ghost stories that possess an element 
of truth and that rest upon a secure 
foundation— are not wholly imagin- 
ary, but will bear the light of scientific 
investigation. 

That which is called a ghost is a cre- 
ation of the subjective entity. It has 
been clearly demonstrated by the So- 
ciety for Psychical Eesearch that the 
subjective personality of man pos- 
sesses the power to create phantoms 
or visions which in many instances 
are visible to the objective senses of 
others. 

"Phantasms of the living" and 
"phantasms of the dead" are both 
creations of the subjective entity. 
Sometimes a phantasm of the living 
has been projected when the said liv- 
ing person was in a profound slum- 
ber, as the result of a desire before 
entering sleep, and sometimes without 
any such desire; yet the vision made 
its appearance so perfectly as to be 
easily recognized by the one to whom 
it was projected. The more profound 
54 



SPIRITISM 

the sleep of the person whose " ghost" 
appears, the better are the results. 
The power is greatest, however, at the 
hour of death, when the functions of 
the body are entirely suspended. 

Ghosts, or phantasms of the dead, 
are not produced by the dead, but are 
often seen after the death of the per- 
son; hence the name " ghosts," or 
spirits of the dead. As a rule these 
phantasms are projected by those who 
have died a violent death, or under 
circumstances of great mental stress 
or emotion. 

I believe that in every case of a 
haunted house, especially where the 
" ghost" is visible, there is a reason 
for the presence. This is the more 
manifest from the fact that as soon 
as its mission is fulfilled it vanishes 
never to return. Bear in mind that 
the " ghost" is not the subjective en- 
tity, but a creation of the subjective 
entity. Dr. Hudson considered the 
vision, or ghost, as "an embodied 
thought, rather than a human soul," 
and said, " it possesses but one idea or 
purpose." If the apparition were a 
real phantom or spirit of the one de- 
55 



SPIRITISM 

ceased, it could convey any informa- 
tion desired. The fact that it does 
not do so, or cannot do so, shows con- 
clusively that said phantom is merely 
an embodied thought of the deceased, 
projected at the supreme moment for 
a specific purpose. 

"It seems probable," says Henry 
Eutgers Marshall, president of the 
American Psychological Society, 
" that in the near future many of 
these recorded facts will appear easily 
explicable without resort to the spirit- 
istic hypothesis." 

MRS. LEONORA E. PIPER 

Every one is more or less familiar 
with the reported tests, extending 
over many years, with Mrs. Piper. It 
is generally conceded that she is one 
of the best mediums— mentally, mor- 
ally, and physically considered— that 
could be found for the trying ordeal, 
and that the investigators were gen- 
tlemen of ability, learning, and un- 
compromising integrity. The strictest 
surveillance has characterized every 
movement of the Psychical Research 
56* 



SPIRITISM 

Society investigators; but, not- 
withstanding all this, and that in 
every test there was an entire absence 
of the slightest element of fraud, they 
seem to be as much in the dark as at 
the beginning. In the meantime Mrs, 
Piper, after years of honest and con- 
scientious endeavor to aid in unravel- 
ling the mystery that surrounds " the 
shadow world," began to realize that 
whatever knowledge or information 
she was able to give came not from 
"the departed" but was, instead, the 
result of an inherent faculty possessed 
by her and developed to an unusual 
degree, which manifested itself the 
more that the objective faculties were 
in abeyance. In consequence of this 
awakening she readily passed from 
the less desirable role of "medium" to 
the more desirable one of "psychic." 
As to the conclusions reached by the 
investigators, I fail to see any plaus- 
ible theory whereby the phenomena 
can be said to be due to disembodied 
spirits, to the return of friend or rela- 
tive, or to any knowledge or message 
from the same after they have 
"passed over." But I can see, very 
57 



SPIRITISM 

clearly, how the knowledge of every 
transaction was lying dormant in the 
subjective mind of some of the in- 
vestigators, but of which they may 
have had no objective consciousness. 
Dr. Hudson's infallible key, " telep- 
athy by three, " will unlock the mys- 
tery of all those cases wherein the 
objective mind may never have pos- 
sessed the knowledge or wherein the 
objective memory may have been at 
fault, 

EUSAPIA PALLADXNO 

There has recently come to our 
shores one who has mystified all 
Europe with her truly wonderful se- 
ances. This ignorant peasant woman 
of Naples has been closely watched by 
eminent scientists, believers as well 
as unbelievers. While she was caught, 
now and then, simulating psychical 
phenomena by legerdemain, there 
were many phases of her seances that 
were inexplicable to the investigators. 
The majority of those who studied 
each and every performance have 



58 



SPIRITISM 

expressed themselves as being con- 
vinced that she possesses powers be- 
yond the normal, although they have 
no clear conception as to the cause 
that is back of the effect. Those, like 
the late Caesar Lombroso and other 
believers, naturally attributed each 
phenomenon to some extraneous 
force, while the non-believers in spir- 
itism did not hesitate to acknowledge 
the phenomena, but were not willing 
to subscribe to the alleged cause. She 
was brought to this country to un- 
dergo special scientific investigation 
of the same seances given abroad. 
Whether it was due to the closer scru- 
tiny, if possible, of the committee, or 
to the environment in a strange land, 
or to the fact that she was caught in 
the act of trickery— be that as it may 
—she failed to make good. 

Mr. Hereward Carrington, member 
of the Council of the American So- 
ciety for Scientific Research, and also 
of the English Society for Psychical 
Research, considered one of the most 
expert investigators in America, has 
this to say of her many private 



59 



SPIRITISM 

seances for which he arranged both 
here and abroad: 

"The majority of investigators oppose a 
spiritistic interpretation of the facts and rather 
incline to the belief that we deal, in Eusapia's 
case, with the operation of an unknown but 
intelligent force directed, perhaps by the sub- 
consciousness of the medium which has the ca- 
pacity at times of externalizing itself, as it 
were, and creating images and phantoms out- 
standing and real at the time, but nevertheless, 
reflected images (such as those we see in a look- 
ing-glass) which disintegrate and vanish at the 
conclusion of the seance, just as the living 
image seen in the glass vanishes when the 
mirror itself is shattered. 

"These phenomena indicate the existence of 
a force or forces unrecognized by physical sci- 
ence as it exists to-day. There is no a priori 
objection to the existence of a force, since the 
nature of the vital action within the human 
body is but little understood; and it is only 
necessary to conceive that this vital or nervous 
energy might extend, at times, beyond the pe- 
riphery of the body (whereas, normally, it is 
terminated at the surface) in order to account 
for any of the phenomena observed." 

The morning of April 10, 1910, the 
daily paper contained the following 
startling headlines "by direct wire 
from New York ": 
60 



SPIRITISM 

"The bubble bursts. Medium is branded 
faker by scientists. Eusapia Palladino fooled 
the world nineteen years, but is exposed. Sav- 
ants of Europe duped by old tricks of an Italian 
woman, bailed by learned bodies as most won- 
derful spiritualist. American college profes- 
sors secrete spies and discover how the public 
was hoodwinked." 

Then follows an extended and ex- 
haustive article bv Dickinson Miller, 
Professor of Philosophy at Columbia 
College, in which the details of the 
expose are given. 

SUMMARY 

After weighing all the evidence, pro 
and con, I conclude by repeating what 
I have heretofore stated; namely, it 
is not necessary to ascribe to spirits 
of the dead (disembodied) the knowl- 
edge which is in the subjective mind 
of the living— the embodied spirit. 
Also I would repeat the unanswerable 
question, " Why should a dead man's 
spirit in abnormal union with a living 
man's body possess more knowledge 
than' a living man's spirit in normal 
union with his own body?" 

I am well aware, as before stated, 
61 



SPIRITISM 

that the searcher for light and truth 
may find it more difficult to under- 
stand the explanation than the thing 
explained ; while the believer in spir- 
itism finds it much easier to believe 
that which he ardently desires to be 
true. 



62 



p 29 im 



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THE WARMAN BOOKS 

PHYSICAL EDUCATION SERIES 
Physical Training Simplified. 
Care of the Body. 
Indian Club Exercises. 
Hints on Health. 
285 Health Answers. 
Physical Education and Hygiene. 
Fencing Exercises. 
Get Well: Keep Well. 
Twenty-Minute Exercises. 
How to Live 100 Years — 

AND THEN SOME. 

PSYCHIC SCIENCE SERIES 

Psychology. 

Personal Magnetism. 

Telepathy Mind Reading, etc. 

Hypnotism. 

Suggestion. 

Spiritism 
S Clairvoyance and Clairaudience. 
( Premonitions and Impressions. 

Hindu Philosophy in a Nutshell. 

MISCELLANEOUS 
Practical Orthoepy and Critique. 
The Philosophy of Expression. 
How to Read, Recite, and Impersonate. 
The Voice: How to Train It. 
Don'ts for Speaker and Writer, 



